Don Don Donki
It provides a wide range of products, from basic groceries to electronics and clothing. The store is well known in Japan and is often referred to by its shortened name Donki (ドンキ). Distinctly, Don Quijote tends to keep very late hours for Japanese retailing (to 3 or 5am, or even 24 hours) and it packs its goods from ceiling to floor in a distinct merchandising strategy.
History
Origins
Founded by Takao Yasuda, Don Quijote opened its first store in Suginami, Tokyo in September 1980 under its original name, Just Co. Originally a retail store, Just Co. quickly switched to wholesale in 1982.
The company opened its first "Don Quijote" named store in Fuchu, Tokyo in March 1989. With the name change, the store also changed its primary business from wholesale to retail. It was not until 1995, six years later, that Just Co. followed suit and it changed its corporate name to Don Quijote Co., Ltd as well. In June 1998, the company was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
As one of the leading discount stores in Japan, the end of the Japanese economic bubble didn't severely affect the company. Instead, the sudden economic uncertainty caused the Japanese public to become more thrifty and therefore helped to boost sales at its stores during the early 1990s.
In 2005, idol group AKB48 opened its theater on the eighth floor of the Don Quijote Akihabara Outlet in Tokyo. Also that year, a Ferris wheel opened at the facade of the Don Quijote Dōtonbori branch in Osaka.
In October 2007, Don Quijote purchased the ailing Nagasakiya chain for 140 billion yen. This store and 3 other group companies went defunct in Oct 2017 as creditors have pulled the plug on their combined 432 billion yen of debts. Creditors continue to bankroll the rest of the group.
On June 28, 2017, PAQ, which operated Honolulu-based Times, Big Save and Shima, under the subsidiary QSI, Inc., announced that it had sold the 24 stores it owns in Hawaii to Honolulu-based Don Quijote (USA), using an executed stock purchase agreement with the sale closing in the 3rd quarter of 2017. The deal will combine Times with three Don Quijote stores and two Marukai stores on Oahu. In a statement from Edwin Sawai, president of Don Quijote (USA) Co., Ltd. and Marukai Hawaii Co. Ltd., he said that “The opportunity to welcome the Times Supermarket family of stores and their employees to our ohana is exciting for us,” and added that “We are confident that we will successfully work together, share ideas and learn from each other's combined experiences to best serve Hawaii. For more than 68 years, Times Supermarket has been a local favorite and pillar of Hawaii's retail community. We look forward to continuing their history and success in the islands.”
Further expansions
Singapore
Don Quijote opened its first Southeast Asian store at Orchard Central, Singapore, on December 1, 2017. These stores are branded "Don Don Donki" as the Don Quijote name was in use by a local restaurant. Don Quijote subsequently opened a second store at the 100AM Mall in Tanjong Pagar on June 14, 2018. Don Quijote planned to have five stores in Singapore by the end of 2019 and 10 stores at the end of 2020.
A third store was opened at City Square Mall in Singapore on January 11, 2019 with a fourth at Novena Square in May 2019. The fifth store in Singapore is located at Jewel Changi Airport, under the Sweet Potato Factory concept. A store location was announced in June 2019 at Clarke Quay Central, increasing the total to six stores. Two more stores opened at Jem and JCube in November 2019 and January 2020 respectively.
A 10th store opened at NTUC Downtown East. Don Don Donki also opened its 11th store in Suntec City. In September 2021, Donki announced that it would open two more stores, one in Tampines and the other in the North-East Region. It added that it will open more at Jurong West and Yishun in 2022.
Singapore has the largest amount of Don Quijote stores outside of the home islands. The founder of Don Quijote also lives in Singapore, specifically at Sentosa.Currently, there is a store at Jurong West and Tiong Bahru Plaza too.
Hong Kong
It also expanded to Hong Kong. Don Quijote has five outlets, one at Mira Place 2 in Tsim Sha Tsui, one at OP Mall in Tsuen Wan, one at Pearl City in Causeway Bay, one at 100QRC in Central and one at Monterey Place in Tseung Kwan O. These stores have also adopted the Don Don Donki branding. Don Quijote opened one more store at the Island Resort Mall in Siu Sai Wan in February 2021, and at TMT Plaza in Tuen Mun in July 2021. The store in Amoy Plaza opened in January 2022, and another store opened at Fashion World in The Whampoa in August 2022.
Thailand
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The chain currently consists of six stores in Thailand, the first store in Thailand opened on February 22, 2019 in the Thonglor area of Bangkok. one in Seacon Square (opened October 1, 2021), one at the MBK Center (opened December 21, 2021), one in Seacon Bangkae (opened June 20, 2022), one at J-Park Sriracha Nihon Mura in Si Racha, Chonburi. (opened September 9, 2022), and one in Thaniya Plaza on Si Lom Road. (opened January 23, 2023), with one at The Market Shopping Mall in Ratchaprasong closed on September 4, 2022.
Taiwan
On 19 January 2021, the first Don Don Donki store in Taiwan was opened in the Ximending Shopping District, Taipei amid the coronavirus pandemic. The three-floor outlet is open 24 hours a day and is located near Ximen metro station. It attracted more than 500 people who lined up in front of the outlet before its grand opening Tuesday.
On 20 January 2022, the second Don Don Donki store in Taiwan opened in the Zhongxiao Xinsheng business district of Taipei. The second store is an underground single-floor store with an area of about 1,540 square meters (16,500 square feet). The store is located in close proximity to the Zhongxiao Xinsheng metro station. The Zhongxiao Xinsheng store will also open alongside four different kinds of booths selling Japanese foods; including MOCHI-MOCHI (selling freshly made Mochi), Inari Sushi Tamaya (selling Inari Sushi), Kondo (selling Japanese Wagyu beef skewers), and Color Food and Fitness (selling Daifuku made with seasonal Japanese fruits).
On 22 August 2023, the 3rd Don Don Donki store in Taiwan opened in Citylink Nangang in Taipei.
On 9 November 2023, the 4th Don Don Donki store in Taiwan opened in Tiger City in Taichung, with a total area of about 1,800 square meters (20,000 square feet), which was the largest Don Don Donki in Taiwan to date.
On 7 December 2023, the 5th Don Don Donki store in Taiwan opened in Talee Department Store in Kaohsiung. It's currently the largest Taiwanese Don Don Donki with the area of nearly 3,000 square meters (32,000 square feet). The opening attracted nearly 2000 shoppers. This store contains three exclusive areas: Outdoor for outdoor products, Donki Sake for Japanese sake and Cocokawaii for kawaii items.
Malaysia
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On 19 March 2021, the first Don Don Donki store in Malaysia was opened in Lot 10 of Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, branded as Jonetz by Don Don Donki. A second store was opened on 9 December 2021 at Tropicana Gardens Mall in the Petaling Jaya district of Selangor; it was also the biggest outlet in Southeast Asia, spanning 42,243 sq ft across two levels of the mall. It closed permanently on 31 May 2023. A third store was set to open in 2022 at Mitsui Shopping Park LaLaport mall located at Bukit Bintang City Centre. However, the third store opened in Sunway Pyramid instead on 28 October 2022. The fourth store that opened was in Mid Valley Megamall on 31 January 2024. The fifth store was recently opened in NU Sentral on 14 June 2024. The company also plans to open up 11 new outlets by June 2024.
Macau
Don Don Donki opened its first store in Macau on 9 September 2021, at Fai Chi Kei. Don Don Donki also opened its store in Studio City located on the Cotai Strip in Macau on 2 February 2024.
Guam
After breaking ground in February 2020, Don Don Donki was expected to open on Guam in the village of Tamuning under the name Village of Donki in September 2021. It opened on 25 April 2024.
Mascot
The official character mascot of Don Quijote is called Donpen. Introduced in 1998, he is depicted as a blue penguin wearing a Santa hat and the Katakana character "do" on his stomach. The company also has a pink female equivalent known as Donko.
In December 2022, Don Quijote invited controversy when it announced Donpen would be replaced by an anthropomorphic depiction of the Katakana character "do" named Dojou-chan. The decision was reversed days later after an outpouring of support for the mascot on social media.
Theme song
Don Quijote is known for the distinctive song that plays in its stores. The song is called "Miracle Shopping" sung by Maimi Tanaka, then Don Quijote store employee. "Miracle Shopping" was later released as a maxi single in 1999 by Grace Notes Records. An English and Cantonese version has also been released. Both versions also have a remake under the "Don Don Donki" name to accommodate for the outlets outside Japan.
Incidents
Arson
In December 2004, four stores in the Kantō area were damaged or destroyed by arson attacks. Three store employees, Morio Oshima, 39, Mai Koishi, 20, and Maiko Sekiguchi, 19, died in the first arson incident. In 2007, Noriko Watanabe, 49, was found guilty of setting the fires and sentenced to life imprisonment. Don Quijote received harsh criticism at the time for poor store layout that made it difficult to find exits.
Roller coaster
In 2005, Don Quijote began building a "half-pipe" roller coaster on the roof of its eight-storey Roppongi store. Roppongi is a heavily populated area in the core of Tokyo, and many residents and businesses were upset with the idea of having a roller coaster in their neighborhood because of the spectacle, noise and crowds it would likely create. The project was completed in 2006 but due to increasing pressure from concerned groups in the area it was never operated. As of 2019, the structure had been removed.
Overseas assets
Don Quijote purchased the Marukai Japanese chain stores in the United States in 2013, splitting it into Marukai and Tokyo Central Markets chains.
In popular culture
Don Quijote stores are included as in-game shops in the Yakuza video game series. In 2009, Sega partnered with the store to advertise the release of Yakuza 3.
There is a Don Quijote store scene in TONIKAWA: Over the Moon to You when Nasa and Tsukasa went shopping in its second episode of its first season.